5 reasons why David Haye will beat Tyson Fury

Haye vs. Fury Fight Preview:

The big, exciting, upcoming heavyweight fight isn’t Pulev vs. Thompson or even Klitschko vs. Povetkin. Instead, the bout that has real fan interest is the all-Briton clash in Manchester on September 28 between David Haye and Tyson Fury. The winner of this clash will challenge Dr. Steelhammer for the World Heavyweight Title, buy what makes this fight the most exciting of the three are the boxers themselves. Fury and Haye have personality, and they (usually) like to fight. Add into that the British bragging rights angle, and you have what promises to be the most action-packed big man’s bout of the year.

Many are picking Fury, based largely on the logic that a good big man beats a good little man every time. The logic is sound, but prone to error because of flawed assessments in just how good the big guy and the little guy really are. Such is the case with favoring Fury. In my opinion, the “Fury will win” line either overrates Fury or underrates Haye. Here are five reasons Haye will win this fight:

1. Haye Isn’t That Small

Credit: Hayemaker Boxing

One of the gravest misunderstandings about the Hayemaker is that he is a “small heavyweight,” based in large part because he came up from the cruiserweight ranks. But Haye is really a mid-sized heavyweight, and I can prove it in two points.

First, just look at Haye in his fights with John Ruiz and Dereck Chisora. No one has ever called those two guys anything but mid-sized heavyweights, and Haye looked perfectly normal standing next to them. He’s 6’3″ tall, weighs in around 220 lbs (a very fit, solid 220 at that), and that is weight he didn’t need to bulk up and eat like crazy to achieve.

Second, cruisers aren’t as small as they used to be. Compare Haye to history’s only other Undisputed World Cruiserweight Champion, Evander Holyfield. When The Real Deal was a cruiser, the weight limit was 190 lbs. In Haye’s day, the limit was up to 200 lbs. Holyfield had to pump iron and eat his way up to 215 lbs, because his natural combat weight was about 205 lbs. David Haye more or less just had to stop trying to make weight as a cruiser to become a real, mid-sized heavyweight.

Eddie Chambers and Tomasz Adamek are small heavyweights. David Haye is not.

2. Tyson Fury Isn’t Wladimir Klitschko

Tyson Fury is undeniably a big heavyweight, but he doesn’t fight like a guy who has huge natural advantages in height and reach against most opponents. Fury’s style is not to jab and box, but to grind opponents down with clubbing punches pitched at medium range. While his boxing skills are admittedly underrated to a degree, sticking and moving is not his preferred method of combat, not by a mile. He has a good jab, but indifferent feet.

So, saying Fury will do to Haye with Klitschko did to Haye puts too much emphasis on size, and none whatsoever on style and technique. That in turn means that Haye can get to Fury, and won’t be held at bay all night.

3. Haye Has A Plan For Big Guys

People who favor Fury seem to forget Haye managed to eek out a decision over an even bigger and more ponderous heavyweight in Nikolai Valuev. Like Fury, Valuev likes to grind his opponents down with thudding blows; unlike Fury, Valuev preferred to do it from a distance, and was very practiced at doing so. Haye used a combination of hand speed and footwork to partially offset those advantages and score.

Fury is clearly a better athlete than Valuev, but don’t forget Valuev was even bigger and preferred to fight at long range. We already know working from range isn’t Fury’s chosen style, but if he should try to go that route, Haye has an answer and has won with it before.

4. Haye Can Crack Fury’s Chin

In this fight, Haye is the puncher. Fury knocks opponents out with an accumulation of heavy-handed punches. Haye, on the other hand, is the one who really cracks, and Fury has a merely average chin.

Two points stand out for consideration here. First, Fury was floored by Steve Cunningham in his last outing, an ex-cruiser who, unlike Haye, really is a small heavyweight. Cunningham wasn’t a puncher even at cruiserweight, and yet there was Fury with his bell rung. To his credit, Fury got up, came back, and carried on, but it doesn’t change facts.

The other point illustrates the difference between Haye’s kind of power and Fury’s kind of power, and how the two men apply it. Fury pounded his way to a points win over Dereck Chisora; Haye blasted Del Boy in a shoot-out for a TKO5 victory.

Fury will need time to hurt Haye, while Haye can start trying to take Fury out as soon as he reaches Fury’s chin. As I’ve already shown, Haye can and will get there.

5. Haye Has Better Stamina

Let’s say this fight does turn into the kind of battle of attrition Fury likes. Given that Fury will take damage in turn, who is better able to weather all the hurt?

Until recently, Tyson Fury was routinely criticized for showing up on fight night overweight and under-prepared. Fury has turned that around, but to achieve true peak performance, a boxer needs to take excellent care of himself in and out of training camp for years. Tyson Fury hasn’t done that, and I think it is a flat out fact that he is not the best he can be yet. David Haye, on the other hand, is always in excellent shape. You never see him packing extra poundage at any time, in camp or out.

Neither man sees the final bell of a fight often, but Haye has seen it getting roughed up by a giant heavyweight before. We know he has the stuff to stand with a man of Fury’s talents for 12 rounds. Fury, on the other hand, has somewhat questionable stamina and has never been pushed by a much faster, harder hitting, aggressive opponent before. Fury is not in the best position to see even his own preferred game plan through.

30 comments

@Johnson: You lead off with “Fury is the worst boxer I have seen in the history in the ring…” You are either prone to exaggeration, a boxing novice, a troll, a complete moron or all of the above. Either way, you are off the mark in that and everything else you posted for that matter.

For the sake of argument though, here are two points:

the state of Fury’s physique is a non issue if you are talking the love handles thing which is the only eyesore I can see on Fury but this is cosmetic (it’s a body type)for instance, Larry Holmes (yes even the young Larry Holmes at different points in time)had the same type of physique as does Tony Thompson(whatever you feel about him) and so did mixed martial arts legend Fedor Emelianenko. Then there are fighters that are just wide around the waist: James Toney, John L.Sullivan, etc. etc. even Marciano had an unorthodox body type…then there is Big George Foreman (in a body class all his own)

As far as ring experience between the two fighters, I already pointed out that these two fighters are closer than one would guess seeing as Haye has been in the game MUCH longer (Haye: 119 rounds total vs Fury 112 rounds total…and Fury has more experience fighting in the heavyweight division 21 bouts to hayes 6. You must have missed that in all your biased rage.

Justintown,
You are just way off the point, a journey man who has never made a main card could in fact have more rounds under his belt due to needing to fight more times a year but it doesn’t mean he is more experienced.

EVERYBODY in boxing knows you are talking levels and shows when you are talking experience. Tyson has nothing on Haye in that regard.

While I agree he is in great shape how would anyone bring James Toney into that arguement?

You are a obsessed fan boy. For all your shite analysis it really comes down to some simple facts

Haye is a far supperior boxer than Fury but Haye is a small HW while Fury is a massive one. Fury needs to either jab and Lean or catch Haye with one massive shot

For Haye to win he needs to get through Furys defence and atleast drop him in first couple of rounds.

Finally unless Fury performs better than we have ever seen him he will get destroyed by Wlad. He doesn’t have the footwork, head movement or speed to cause wlad trouble

for me, this is less about liking Fury per se (weird hero worship like many haye fans) and more about the bigger picture of the heavyweight division over the long haul. It’s quite simple: I would rather see Fury in a bout with either Klitschko than boring-ass, (prima-dona) haye…he already blew it anyways. The idea of Fury being a young heavyweight that is unpredictable and that has brought some fire back into the division (whether you choose to accept that or not) is welcome to me. Fury has the right amount of tools, talent etc. as well as idiosyncrasies and flaws to keep things REAL interesting for some time to come…and he is a fighter no doubt. He evolves and yet risks…this type of fighter is what keeps the sweet science interesting. Anyone can say what they like but this is the core of my support of this one fighter.

On that note, here are some quotes from a few figures in the sport about Fury:

…enjoy (haters).

Kevin Johnson (on Tyson Fury): “I know it would be a beautiful fight [Vitali vs Fury] and on a scale of one to ten does he have a great chance of becoming the champion?; Yes, I’ll give him about a 7 ½ …and that’s better than I’ll give anybody.”

Deontay Wilder (on Tyson Fury): “It only leaves Tyson Fury now…he’s been handling business, he keeps winning, and so now the best English heavyweight is Tyson Fury.”

Wladimir Klitschko (on Tyson Fury): “The new fighters are going to come up, look at Tyson Fury. I think he will make a lot of problems for a lot of guys in the top 10 to be honest. And understand he is at a certain age and he has certain qualities that he has to develop; and I think from fight to fight you will see how he will improve; But I think from fight to fight he is just going to get better”

Naazim Richardson (on Tyson Fury): “This young man down the table, Mr. Fury, is a outstanding young fighter, is very big, has an exceptional reach…and I have a great deal of respect for him…and his history of boxing.” … “I just beg that you do not defang and declaw this young man, Fury is younger, he’s bigger, he’s taller, he’s stronger…all of these attributes, after the fight I don’t want to people to start saying things like he wasn’t real, he wasn’t this, he hasn’t done anything, he was a fraud. I don’t want to hear these things afterwards…”

Steve Cunningham (on Tyson Fury): “Man, he [Fury] is just so big and he can fight, I thought that he was down for good when I dropped him but he just got up more determined.”

Well written article with quite a few falacies(Also think Justintown has also)
To me you look at a few areas in judging a bocing fight:

LEVEL:
TF: That is the quality of opponents both have fought. Tysons three biggest fights have been Chisora, Johnson and Cunningham. He performed well against a completely over weight Chiroa and passed his sell by date Johnson. Cunningham a great boxer but is a Cruiserweight was winning on points and knocked him down. Cunnningham tired, Fury used some questionable tactics and won.

HAYE: Fougth at the highest level at cruiserweight and then went up to HW. Harrison doesn’t count but Nikoloi was a good win. He held one of titles and only lost once before this in 52 fights
EDGE: HAYE

Styles:
TF:Is a young developing Heavweight who is hauge in size and weight. From his own uncle and trainer he is well suited to fighting big guys because he is more formidable and is working to improve boxing skills. Cunningham showed that while he is goood going forward, can rough his opponents up that he struggles with boxers who are fast, can box and hit him at angles. That is David Haye

HAYE has been in against Valuev, Harrison and Wladimir as far as big men who rely on Jab and grab big man tactics. In all three fights he dismantled their attack but Wladimir defence is incredible so haye lost a UD.

Verdict: Haye can dismantle his attack and breach his defence

Experience/ Rounds/ Pedigree:
They have both fought similar amount of rounds but that is where it starts and ends. Haye has fought in title fights and unifying fights in two division. His figths V Harrison and Chisora were massive as far as profile. He has been there and done it. Fury has had one relatively big one V Cunningham which he admitted got to him and affected performance.

MUTUAL OPPONENT: Ofcourse style make fights but the fact Haye looked gassed against against Chisora seems to be a talking point. The fact is Haye took out a pretty in shape Chisora while Fury went twelve rounds with an extremely fat version of Chisora(Still got the W but not as impressive as it looks)

To conclude I really like Fury, he is half Irish and proud of it so he has my vote. He also has great potential but I agree with Booth this is the wrong fight and wrong time for him.

What I think is great though is even of bookies are right and he loses he has years to reach is potential. This fight sets him up for life is a great experience and I hope even if he comes out second best the fight is a spring board in his and his cousins career.

I don’t think you understand the word Fallacies even beyond the spelling.

Let me help you with some of your confusion my friend.

LEVEL:

“three biggest fights have been Chisora, Johnson and Cunningham.” (you are forgetting the undefeated Neven Pajkic but we’ll let that slide. and remember, the young Fury is still building his resume) “He performed well against a completely over weight Chiroa” (Fury came in subpar as well) “and passed his sell by date Johnson” (if you are implying that Johnson was faded then apply that thinking to Haye’s “best wins” against Valuev and Ruiz) “Cunningham a great boxer but is a Cruiserweight was winning on points and knocked him down. Cunnningham tired, Fury used some questionable tactics and won.” (Fury and Cunningham were equal in the final punch stats. Cunningham was tired from having to deal with the pressure and size of Fury, a problem Haye will surely face. Cunningham used questionable tactics as well but the win was due to an accumulation of shots that faded Cunningham. Also, we can say that Haye used questionable tactics against Ruiz (via rabbit punches etc) to get that win)

“HAYE: Fougth at the highest level at cruiserweight and then went up to HW. Harrison doesn’t count” (what does this prove?) “but Nikoloi was a good win. He held one of titles and only lost once before this in 52 fights
EDGE: HAYE” (Valuev was a faded fighter and that decision was controversial none the less. Valuev was going into the Haye fight diagnosed with degenerative bone and joint condition which required two surgeries squedualed for after the haye bout which was his “unofficial” retirement fight)

“Styles:
TF:Is a young developing Heavweight who is hauge in size and weight. From his own uncle and trainer he is well suited to fighting big guys because he is more formidable and is working to improve boxing skills. Cunningham showed that while he is goood going forward, can rough his opponents up that he struggles with boxers who are fast, can box and hit him at angles. That is David Haye” (every fighter “struggles” with fighters that “are fast, can box and hit at angles”…and so?)

“HAYE has been in against Valuev, Harrison and Wladimir as far as big men who rely on Jab and grab big man tactics. In all three fights he dismantled their attack but Wladimir defence is incredible so haye lost a UD.” (this doesn’t help your case and no, he did not dismantle their attacks – Wlad ans Valuen he ran and Harrison’s notorious chin dismantled itself lol)

Experience/ Rounds/ Pedigree:
“They have both fought similar amount of rounds but that is where it starts and ends.” (Not when it comes to general ring experience) “Haye has fought in title fights and unifying fights in two division.” (Most of Haye’s wins in the cruisers were against subpar opponents in bouts that were scheduled 4, 6, and 8 rounders…and his heavyweight bouts ALL SIX were hardly noteworthy opponents other than Wlad as I have already pointed out) “His figths V Harrison and Chisora were massive as far as profile.” (profile means nothing in regards to what we are talking about) “He has been there and done it. Fury has had one relatively big one V Cunningham which he admitted got to him and affected performance.” (this is moving into hero worship territory now…Haye has been there and done what? tv reality shows? moving in a shot cruiserweight division as a shrunk heavy? a loss to Wlad? lol…and what does this have to do with fighting per se? What he hasn’t done is more than one opponent a year for the bulk of his heavyweight outing)

MUTUAL OPPONENT: “Ofcourse style make fights but the fact Haye looked gassed against against Chisora seems to be a talking point.” (more than a talking point my friend) “The fact is Haye took out a pretty in shape Chisora while Fury went twelve rounds with an extremely fat version of Chisora(Still got the W but not as impressive as it looks)” (again, Fury was not in shape against Chisora and Chisora came into that haye fight boxing the worst we have seen him since his follow up fight against Hector Alfredo Avila)

“To conclude I really like Fury, he is half Irish and proud of it so he has my vote.” (you judge the merits of a boxer on national/ethnic lines?!…this says a lot) “He also has great potential but I agree with Booth this is the wrong fight and wrong time for him.” (great, you have support in your views)

“What I think is great though is even of bookies are right and he loses he has years to reach is potential. This fight sets him up for life is a great experience and I hope even if he comes out second best the fight is a spring board in his and his cousins career.” (either way Fury will continue to evolve and in my view is a welcome addition to the division…unlike the boring pretender that is haye)

I don’t think you understand the word Fallacies even beyond the spelling.

Let me help you with some of your confusion my friend.

—————

“three biggest fights have been Chisora, Johnson and Cunningham.”

(you are forgetting the undefeated Neven Pajkic but we’ll let that slide. and remember, the young Fury is still building his resume)

“He performed well against a completely over weight Chiroa”

(Fury came in subpar as well)

“and passed his sell by date Johnson”

(if you are implying that Johnson was faded then apply that thinking to Haye’s “best wins” against Valuev and Ruiz)

“Cunningham a great boxer but is a Cruiserweight was winning on points and knocked him down. Cunnningham tired, Fury used some questionable tactics and won.”

(Fury and Cunningham were equal in the final punch stats. Cunningham was tired from having to deal with the pressure and size of Fury, a problem Haye will surely face. Cunningham used questionable tactics as well but the win was due to an accumulation of shots that faded Cunningham. Also, we can say that Haye used questionable tactics against Ruiz -via rabbit punches etc- to get that win)

“HAYE: Fougth at the highest level at cruiserweight and then went up to HW. Harrison doesn’t count”

(what does this prove?)

“but Nikoloi was a good win. He held one of titles and only lost once before this in 52 fightsEDGE: HAYE”

(Valuev was a faded fighter and that decision was controversial none the less. Valuev was going into the Haye fight diagnosed with degenerative bone and joint condition which required two surgeries scheduled for after the haye bout which was his “unofficial” retirement fight)

“TF:Is a young developing Heavweight who is hauge in size and weight. From his own uncle and trainer he is well suited to fighting big guys because he is more formidable and is working to improve boxing skills. Cunningham showed that while he is goood going forward, can rough his opponents up that he struggles with boxers who are fast, can box and hit him at angles. That is David Haye”

(every fighter “struggles” with fighters that “are fast, can box and hit at angles”…and so your point is hanging)

“HAYE has been in against Valuev, Harrison and Wladimir as far as big men who rely on Jab and grab big man tactics. In all three fights he dismantled their attack but Wladimir defence is incredible so haye lost a UD.”

(this doesn’t help your case and no, he did not dismantle their attacks – against Wlad and Valuen he ran and Harrison’s notorious chin dismantled itself lol)

“Verdict: Haye can dismantle his attack and breach his defence”

(in your mind obviously)

“They have both fought similar amount of rounds but that is where it starts and ends.”

(Not when it comes to general ring experience, this is quite definitive)

“Haye has fought in title fights and unifying fights in two division.”

(Most of Haye’s wins in the cruisers were against subpar opponents in bouts that were scheduled 4, 6, and 8 rounders…and his heavyweight bouts ALL SIX were hardly noteworthy opponents other than Wlad as I have already pointed out)

“His figths V Harrison and Chisora were massive as far as profile.”

(hyped attention means nothing in regards to what we are talking about)

“He has been there and done it. Fury has had one relatively big one V Cunningham which he admitted got to him and affected performance.”

(this is moving into hero worship territory now…Haye has been there and done what? tv reality shows? moving in a lagging cruiserweight division as a shrunk heavy? a loss to Wlad? lol…and what does this have to do with fighting per se? What haye hasn’t done is fought more than one opponent a year for the bulk of his heavyweight outing)

“Ofcourse style make fights but the fact Haye looked gassed against against Chisora seems to be a talking point.”

(more than a talking point my friend, haye was sucking wind early in his last bout which his team insisted on being only a 10 rounder…this is telling)
“The fact is Haye took out a pretty in shape Chisora while Fury went twelve rounds with an extremely fat version of Chisora(Still got the W but not as impressive as it looks)”

(again, Fury was not in shape against Chisora and Chisora came into that haye fight boxing the worst we have seen him since his follow up fight against Hector Alfredo Avila)

“To conclude I really like Fury, he is half Irish and proud of it so he has my vote.”

(you judge the merits of a boxer on national/ethnic lines?!…this says a lot)

“He also has great potential but I agree with Booth this is the wrong fight and wrong time for him.”

(great, you have support in your views)

“What I think is great though is even of bookies are right and he loses he has years to reach is potential. This fight sets him up for life is a great experience and I hope even if he comes out second best the fight is a spring board in his and his cousins career.”

(sure, either way Fury will continue to evolve and in my view is a welcome addition to the division…he is a true fighter in every sense of the word, unlike the boring primadonna pretender that is haye)

Look at how much time justintown has on his hands to write comments. Each of his comments is as long as the original article, and he’s left… what, a f*cking dozen of them? What kind of a LOSER are you?

Good Article. I agree with everything in the above article. Haye is the better fighter. Anyone who thinks Fury will win is as deluded as Fury himself. Fury has as of yet fought no-one of real pedigree, Haye has and won 24 of 26 bouts. Haye will KO this big mouthed PIKEE on or before round 6.

“You judge a boxer a boxer on National lines” Dumb ass most sports teams are picked on National lines. Tyson Fury over in the States had a massive Irish flag while Cunningham had a United state flag. Gues Where Money Mayweather is most populer. Such an idiotic comment.”

It is pretty amazing you claim there are all these biased Hayes fans yet you are completely biased in your approach. You critique the achievements of Hayes but ignore those of Fury. Fury has not beat any top guy in their prime